Griffin PowerJolt Plus for iPhone and iPad -- accessory review

The Griffin PowerJolt Plus means you never have to worry about running out of power for your iPhone AND iPad on the road ever again. You see, not only does it plug into your car's cigarette lighter (or any 12v accessory socket) to easily charge your iPhone but the back of the connector opens up to provide a second 12 volt socket that you could use, for example, to charge your iPad (or iPod touch, iPod, partner's iPhone, whatever!).

I love the Griffin PowerJolt Plus. The fact that it allows you to plug in another 12 volt adapter is a brilliant idea. I was worried that the second adapter would not charge at full capacity or would be buggy but that was not the case. I tested the PowerJolt with three different adaptors over the course of two 6 hour road trips and it everything worked perfectly.

The plug itself is well built and fits solidly into the car socket. I didn't have to worry about it coming loose and my iPhone not charging. Likewise the pass through socket. The Griffin PowerJolt Plus has a coiled dock cable which helps prevent tangles and the 30-pin Dock connector, while not Apple-thin, should work with a good amount of cases. If your favorite case is cut very closely around the Dock port, however, it will most likely need to come off (that's why I use the Case-Mate Barely There, just saying...) It also has SmartFuse for circuit protection.

Note, the Griffin PowerJolt Plus doesn't come with a second adapter, just the socket to plug one in. If you want to plug in a second adapter or something like an FM-radio adapter, you need to get that separately (you can get a regular PowerJolt SE from Giffin for a matched set). Also, I'd recommend getting a car mount so you have somewhere convenient to place your iPhone, especially if you're going to use it for something visual like turn-by-turn navigation.

Rating

Gallery

Senior Editor at iMore and a practicing therapist specializing in stress and anxiety. She speaks everywhere from conferences to corporations, co-host of Vector, Review, and Isometric podcasts, and should be followed on Twitter @Georgia_Dow.